We all tend to look at fat as the complete bad guy whether for healthy reasons or weight loss. Fat has 9 calories per gram, which is a lot. According to the Irish Recommended Daily Intakes, fats are recommended as less than 30% of our daily caloric intake [less than 10% coming from saturated fats (which can raise the blood cholesterol levels) the remaining percentage should come from sources of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated (at least one third) fats such as unsalted nuts and seeds, fish and vegetable oils].
We can't completely eliminate fats. They give essential fatty acid such as the linoleic acid responsible for omega 6 and omega 3 (e.g.:flaxseed). They are energy source and reserve, they serve as cushion for the protection of vital organs, insulation from thermal stress of cold environment, hunger depressor (helping you to feel satiated) and they are vitamin carriers (A, D, E, K) and they also help in the production of hormones. For those reasons, we all need a certain amount of body fat.
Fat can be divided into essential fat and storage fat. The essential body fat is needed for our bodily functions, keeping the organs healthy while the storage body fat is important for vitamins and also works as a protection for temperature changes. The amount of essential fat required for men would be around 3% while for women would be around 12% to 15%. Storage body fat for men and women is around 12%. Let's say a men has 3% of essential body fat and 12% of storage body fat... He has a total body fat of 15%. Men and women that have a total body fat of less than 3% and 10% respectively are considered unhealthy being more prone to serious illness and chronic fatigue. Body fat is necessary for the reproductive system and women with total body fat too low can get amenorrhea (cessation of menstruation) and lower bone density putting you at risk for osteoporosis.
On the other hand, a high percentage of total body fat can be associated to heart problems, diabetes type II, high blood pressure, etc. And if you tend to accumulate fat around the abs (apple shape) then you are even at a higher risk of developing those conditions mentioned above.
The American Council on Exercise has classifies body fats into four types, namely athletes (6-13% for men, 16-20% for women); fitness (14-17% for men, 21-24% for women); acceptable (18-25% for men, 25-31% for women) and obese (25%+ for men, 32%+ for women).
Active, healthy athletic women would range between 18 to 20% body fat or even lower controlling with exercise and diet. For women that are not as active, their body fat percentage is higher. Women tend to store fat because our bodies are constantly preparing for a possible pregnancy. Also when people go through very limited low calories diets, the body doesn't have enough calories for proper body function and goes to starvation mode and starts to store fat as an emergency tool. Some body builders low levels of body fat such as 3 to 5% but they are constantly monitoring it as well as strict combination of physical activity and diet but they don't keep those extremely low percentage the whole year round.
Just bear in mind that even you should eat fats sparingly, prefer the monounsaturates or polyunsaturates [such as unsalted nuts and seeds, fish (especially oily fish, such as salmon, trout and herring, at least twice per week) and vegetable oils]. If you are to eat fried food, limit it to 1 to 2 times a week. Confectionary and high fat snacks should be limited to small amounts and not too frequently.
